


Welcome to Lorehaven

by mouservil



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Implied Underage Sam Winchester/Gabriel, M/M, Slow Build, because they don't do anything physical, but not really, probably pretty OOC, small town
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-07 11:29:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11058012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mouservil/pseuds/mouservil
Summary: All Dean Winchester wanted was to be able to feed himself and his younger brother, Sam. He's lost all interest in girlfriends and, to some extent, regular friends as well. He's just trying to focus on getting a paycheck.All Castiel Shurley wanted was to get through life as quietly and as incident-free as possible. But he's started to get a little lonely; a feeling that contradicts his desire to ward off everyone else's attention.Then Dean and Castiel meet.





	1. A Man of Few Words

**Author's Note:**

> Lorehaven is a completely fictional town that I based in Nebraska, and most of the townsfolk are also figments of my own imagination. Any relation to real life people or events or towns is completely coincidental.

**_Lorehaven, Nebraska, 1998._ **

The music that screamed on the other side of Dean’s bedroom wall had started to get on his nerves. That isn’t to say that it didn’t get on his nerves the very first time he heard it, because trust him when he says that he really doesn’t enjoy listening to Journey. But the second the volume was turned up, he couldn’t take it anymore. He jumped onto his bed and started pounding the side of his fist against the wall until Steve Perry’s voice subsided into the background. He banged on it one last time for good measure, just to make sure that he got the point across to the middle aged man on the other side.

“Are you thirteen years old?!” he shouted. “I’m tired of hearin’ Journey every goddamn morning! If you’re gonna blast music, put on Def Leppard or Zeppelin or Styx or, hell, crank up some CCR for all I care - but enough with Journey!”

“Well I’m tired of hearing you complaining!” His neighbor shouted back. His voice was slightly muffled, yet somehow boomed louder than the radio had. “You should be in school, not belittling me and my music taste.”

“You can’t even call it taste anymore, Kurt.”

“If you went to school then maybe you’d learn some respect!”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah.” The mattress bounced back up with a huff after he moved off of it. He listened for a minute longer, but all was quiet from his neighbor’s bedroom, so Dean figured he could continue to get ready without any more interruptions from him.

Half way through his shower, while he was running his fingers through his lathered hair, _Any Way You Want It_ shook the walls of his apartment.

“Screw you, Kurt!” Dean shouted, smacking the tiled wall. He moved to stand directly under the shower head and rinsed the soap off, grumbling the entire time about crummy neighbors and their crummy music taste.

When he stepped out of the shower, the room was steamed up and he could barely see himself through the mirror. It was just a blurred outline of his body shape, colored with smeared paint. He frowned at his unclear reflection, and then turned away from it to finish getting ready for the rest of the day.

He brushed his teeth and slipped into a pair of ratty old jeans, T-shirt, and flannel before leaving his bedroom.  He was about to go into his brother’s room to wake him up, because if he wasn’t already then Sam would probably be late for school, but he stopped when he spotted Sam watching television on a low volume.

“Mornin’, Sammy,” he greeted, stepping into the kitchen and eyeing his brother suspiciously.

Sam turned away from their television, peering over the back of the couch at his older brother. “I’ve been up since _Don’t Stop Believing,_ ” Sam said. “Do you think he’s ever going to switch bands?”

“Not in this lifetime.” He rummaged through their cupboards, frowning a little at the contents because they seriously needed to do some grocery shopping. His eyes caught onto his Lord and savior, and he grinned to himself while reaching for the box of protein bars. He took a couple of them out and flung one over the counter to his brother, then slipped the other one into his back pocket and put the box back onto its respective shelf.

“Don’t-”

Dean slammed the cupboard door shut, wincing at the banging noise it made and holding his breath. Both brothers stared at it, watching it bounce a little from the impact until it settled back into place. They exhaled a sigh of relief.

“See?” Dean turned to Sam and grinned. “Those nails weren’t as rusty as they looked.” He smacked his hand against them a couple of times in a friendly pat, but when he took his hand away to walk over to the couch, the door fell off its hinges. It landed on Dean’s foot, and he hopped away from it with a hiss. “Son of a bitch!” he lifted his foot to rub the pain away, leaning the rest of his bodyweight on the counter so he wouldn’t have to balance while his toe was throbbing..

Sam was standing in front of him when he looked up again. “I told you, Dean.”

“Shut your cakehole,” he muttered, pushing himself away from the counter and straightening himself out. He ruffled Sam’s hair while simultaneously pushing him out of the kitchen. “Come on, time for school.”

Dean grabbed his keys off the hook next to the front door on their way out. Suddenly, Sam stopped walking and turned around, and as a result Dean stumbled a little in an effort not to run into him.

“Dean,” Sam said, giving his brother one of his many annoying looks. The ‘bitch face,’ Dean likes to call them, but that always earns him another look.

“What?”

Sam furrowed his eyebrows and then glanced down at Dean’s feet. Dean squinted, following his gaze downward.

“Oh. Right.”

Sam rolled his eyes at his brother, who hurriedly went to pull on a pair of socks and some shoes. He ducked down to scoop up his awaiting backpack, and then walked out of the apartment to wait for Dean by the car.

Outside, his neighbor was leaning against his apartment door with his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes trained on Sam.

“Um…” Sam stopped walking when he noticed him there. “Morning, Kurt.”

“Good morning, Sam. Is Dean coming out?” He uncrossed his arms, turning so that his entire body was facing the younger Winchester.

“Yeah, he’ll be here in a minute.”

Like clockwork, Dean rushed out of the house, shutting the door behind him. “Hey, what’s the hold up?” he asked Sam.

Kurt cleared his throat beside them. Dean closed his eyes, taking a moment to collect himself before facing his most frustrating neighbor.

He opened his eyes to stare over at him. “Kurt,” Dean greeted.

Kurt nodded his head. “I was just wanting to tell you that you need to set a prime example for your brother,” he stated. “And if you can’t respect me, then I won’t respect you.”

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” Dean scoffed.

Their neighbor glanced over to Sam, who was looking between them awkwardly, and then right back to Dean. “The next time you engage in your nighttime shenanigans-”

“Oh my god, Kurt, get a life!” Dean grabbed Sam by the shoulder, shoving him toward the cement staircase.

“It’s every day, Dean! I’m tired of hearing it!”

Dean shook his head, walking down the stairs with his brother in front of him. He stopped at the car and turned to look back at their complex, maybe to give Kurt the finger or maybe to just glare his hatred out, but whatever it was it didn’t happen, because Kurt had already disappeared back inside.

“If I die, I want you to find the films he used to document me and take them to Ennis.”

Sam shook his head, getting into the car. “Dean, he’s not the next Mark Lewis.”

“You’re only saying that because he’s too old,” Dean muttered. He put the key in the ignition and brought the car to life just as their other neighbor came tumbling out of his apartment.

Sam saw his familiar blonde hair and stupid green suede jacket. He frowned when the kid was catching up to them, and turned to his brother. “Please hurry,” he begged.

“Sorry, you can’t rush Baby. She’s still getting the hang of all this.” Dean backed out of their parking spot, but was forced to hit the breaks when the kid skidded to a stop directly behind their car. “God, is that Gabriel?” He turned around in his seat to look out the window himself.

Sam groaned and smacked his head against the back of his seat. “Don’t give him a ride, Dean. Please?” Sam looked over at his brother.

Dean raised his eyebrows, and then turned to where Gabriel was now jogging up to the car door. Dean rolled down his window. “What’d you want?” he asked.

“I really need a ride to school,” Gabriel responded. He bent down a little so that he could see Sam, and then flashed him a smile.

Sam turned away.

“Dude, this town is three blocks wide. You can make it if you start walking.”

“Aw come on, Dean-o!” He said. “It won’t be out of your way, and I know I’m your favorite neighbor.”

Dean furrowed his eyebrows. “I hate you,” he reminded him.

“Sure, but I’m not as bad as Kurt or Tracy.”

They stared at each other for a few seconds until Dean reluctantly nodded. “Get in,” he said, shoving his thumb toward the back seat. He glanced over in time to see Sam glaring at him. “Hey, dude had a point! Kurt’s the creepiest guy in town and I’m pretty sure Tracy’s in a cult.”

Gabriel got into the back seat, smiling to himself. Sam glared back at him but then turned to face the front again, so Gabriel leaned over the seats to ruffle Sam’s hair. “What’s up, Samoose?”

Sam crossed his arms and glared at the buildings they passed.

Gabriel chuckled and leaned back to stretch out his limbs. There was a moment of silence until Dean reached over to turn up the music, but Gabriel quickly interrupted him before he had the chance to even touch the knob. “One thing I thought I’d let you guys know,” he said. “My cousin’s moving in tomorrow, and I think he’d get along with Sammy.”

“My name’s Sam,” Sam mumbled.

Dean glanced into the rearview mirror to look back at Gabriel. “Is he in a cult?”

“Nope.”

“Is he a serial killer?”

“He wouldn’t hurt a bee.”

Dean narrowed his eyes, looking back to the road, placing both hands on the wheel. “How old is he?”

“Just turned seventeen,” Gabriel told him. “But he’s a little socially awkward so he gets along better with younger people than kids his own age.”

“Seventeen?” Dean frowned. “Sam’s only fourteen, Gabriel.”

Gabriel shrugged. “Yeah, so what? I hang out with the Samosa sometimes, and I’m nineteen.”

“And still in high school,” Sam muttered. “Imagine that.”

“He doesn’t do drugs?” Dean asked just as they came to a stop in front of Lichgate High.

“Dean, I think I’m allowed to choose my own friends,” Sam tried to interrupt.

Gabriel shook his head. “Nope, but sometimes he acts like it. He’s pretty weird.”

“I’m meeting him first, and if I hear from anyone that he’s done something I don’t approve of, the friendship’s gone.”

Gabriel grinned. “So glad to hear it,” he said. “You can meet him bright and early tomorrow morning when you’re helping him move everything in.” He got out of the car and hauled his backpack over one of his shoulders. “Oh, and thanks for the ride.” He shut the door, and Dean watched him take out a candy bar on his way over to the gates.

“That son of a bitch just tricked me!” Dean said, turning to face Sam. “He tricked me into helping his stupid cousin move!”

“Yeah, and I’m glad,” Sam stated, jumping out of the car himself. He turned around to grab his own bag, narrowing his eyes at his brother. “You need to learn to stop controlling my life.”

“Wha-”

Sam shut the car door before Dean could really respond. He walked under the steel archway and across the courtyard to the stairs that lead up into the building. Dean watched him until he was safely inside, then he rolled his eyes and drove away.  

 

\-- -- -- --

 

“Dude!” Dean shouted through the wall, trying to project his voice loud enough to be heard over _Faithfully_. “We’ve got some guy moving in! At least wait a day to scare him away!”

 The music abruptly shut off in the middle of the chorus, leaving him alone in his bedroom in a microwave of awkward silence. He waited a few moments before tentatively calling out Kurt’s name.

“Shut up and go help out our new neighbor!”

 Dean rolled his eyes, because _of course_ Kurt knows all about him having to help Gabriel’s cousin. Everyone else probably knows, too. He sat down at his bed, pulled on his boots, and stepped out of his room.

“Come on, Sam, let’s go.”

Sam frowned, getting up from his spot on the couch to walk over to Dean. “I thought you were helping Castiel today.”

 Dean raised his eyebrows. “I’m sorry, who?”

“Castiel. Gabriel’s cousin. That’s his name.”  

“Oh.” He went into the kitchen, kicked the cupboard door out of his way, and then reached up to grab himself a protein bar. “I was just gonna ditch.”

 “Dude, don’t be a jerk,” Sam said. “You said you’d help him.”

 “I said I’d meet him, Sammy,” Dean told him. “I’ve got work today and I can’t miss it just ‘cause some kid can’t haul his own boxes up a flight of stairs.”

 Sam pursed his lips and furrowed his eyebrows. “You can help him with some stuff. I’ll just walk.”

 “Sam-”

 “No, Dean. Everyone’s gonna hate you if you aren’t nice to him. And then they’d hate me by association.”

Dean rolled his eyes and tossed his brother a protein bar. “Really? That’s what you’re worried about?”

 Sam caught the bar, but it bounced out of his hands and he had to fumble a little to snatch it from the air again. He sighed once he was securely holding it. “Just do it, Dean.”

 “Whatever,” he muttered, ripping open his own protein bar. He stuffed half of it into his mouth, then walked out the door with Sam trailing behind him.

 Outside, Gabriel was downstairs in the parking lot leaning over the driver’s seat of a tan Continental with on hand on the roof. Dean and Sam share a look, and then turn back to face Gabriel and the car. He was saying something to the guy inside, and then he started laughing a little.

 He glanced up and spotted Dean as he was taking another bite of his protein bar despite the fact that he still had so much left. “Hey, Dean!” Gabriel shouted, taking his hand off the car to wave up at them. “Right on time! Cassie just got here.”

 “It’s a Pimpmobile,” Dean told Sam with a mouthful of protein bar.

 Sam glared at him and made his way down the stairs.

 Dean got down there just as Castiel got out of the car, shorter than Dean but taller than Sam with dark hair and bright eyes. He looked over the roof of the car, his eyes meeting Dean’s, and the second they looked at each other, Dean choked on his breakfast. He turned away from Gabriel’s cousin and coughed out a small portion of the bar, but managed to swallow down the rest. He took a deep breath and straightened out his back, wiping his mouth of any saliva that might’ve dribbled down his chin.

 Castiel was absolutely stunning, while Dean was over there demonstrating his inability to actually chew his food.

 “Hi,” Sam said, walking up to Castiel.

 “Hello,” Castiel responded.

“I’m Sam,” he told him, holding out his hand.

 Castiel glanced over at Gabriel who was whistling to himself and staring up at the sky. “Sam…” Castiel responded, looking back at him. “My name is Castiel.”

 The pair shook hands, and then Sam took a step back.

 “That’s my brother, Dean,” Sam stated.

 Dean, to prove just how lame he really was, gave Castiel an awkward wave as a greeting. Luckily, Castiel didn’t seem to notice how awkward this whole situation really was. He acknowledged Dean with a nod.

 Gabriel started to snicker from the sidelines, turning everyone’s attention back to him. He took out a sucker from his pocket and unwrapped it. “Well, Sammy, I think we better get going to school.” He puts the sucker into his mouth and stuffs the wrapper into his pocket. Then he took out a key and tossed it over to Castiel. “You’re officially moved in in my book,” he stated.

 “Bye, Dean,” Sam said, then gave Castiel a wary look. “It was nice meeting you, Castiel.”

 Castiel nodded. “You as well.”

 “C’mon, Sammykins,” Gabriel said, walking over to Sam and wrapping his arm around his shoulders to pull him along.

 “My name’s Sam!”

 Dean licked his lips when Castiel’s eyes met his again. He chuckled. “So, uh… Moving, huh?”

 “That is what I’m doing, yes.”

 “Right… Right.” Dean pressed his lips into a thin line, rubbing his palms against the fabric of his jeans. He clapped his hands together and took a deep breath. “Alright, well, I can’t stay here long, but I’ll help with what I can.”

 Castiel nodded. “Thank you.” 

 

*

 

“So what’s Castiel really doing here?” Sam asked when they were halfway to school.

 Gabriel pulled away from the younger Winchester and slipped his hands into his pockets. “Kind of a long story.” He took out a chocolate bar. “Did you wanna split it?”  
  
Sam eyed it a moment, then looked back up at Gabriel. “You’re still eating that lollipop.”

 “So? I can multitask.” Gabriel winked.

 Sam looked down at his feet.

Gabriel stuffed the bar back into his pocket and sighed, looking up at the sky. “His parents kicked him out.”

 “What?” Sam looked up, furrowing his eyebrows at Gabriel. “Why?”

 “I don’t really know everything that happened,” Gabriel told him. “I just know he got into a fight with our dad and I guess he told Cas to get out.”

 Sam nodded, staring at his feet in thought. Then he scrunched up his nose and looked over to Gabriel again. “Our dad? You said he was your cousin.”

 Gabriel snorted. “Yeah, yeah. He had me and my two other brothers with my mom, and then he went and had Cassie and Anna with my mom’s sister.” He shrugged his shoulders, taking the sucker out of his mouth and twirling it between his fingers, his eyes trailing up to the sky. “I just stick with cousin since it’s faster to say, and it’s not like I’m lying to anyone.”

 “Oh…” Sam licked his lips and turned to look upwards. “I’m sorry, Gabriel.”

 Gabriel smiled. He put the sucker back into his mouth before ruffling Sam’s hair.

 

*

 

 “Man, this place is a pigsty,” Dean stated, throwing down a box of Castiel’s clothes onto his bed. “You’d think Gabe would at least clean up a little for his own cousin.”

 Castiel shrugged, setting a photo album and a stuffed bee next to the box. “He probably made it messier on purpose,” he told him. “He always did like to be dramatic.”

 Dean huffed out a hesitant laugh, because he wasn’t really sure if Castiel was being serious or not. The entire time they were taking boxes up and down the stairs, Castiel’s stoic expression never once cracked. It was a little uncomfortable sometimes, if Dean were being completely honest, since it always seemed like he was judging your every move. But Dean tried to let it slide.

 “Yeah,” Dean agreed. “He’s kind of annoying like that. Pretty okay guy, though, I guess.”

 Castiel raised his eyebrows, turning to face Dean, who’s standing right next to him in front of the mattress. “I was under the impression that you hated him.”

 “What?” Dean scoffed. “I don’t hate him. Who told you that?”

 “He did.”

 “Well…” Dean fumbled a little with his words, not really sure how to dig himself out of this hole. “Okay, maybe I hate the guy a little bit. But he is the quietest neighbor, so that earns him some brownie points.”

 Castiel’s eyes narrowed, and he tilted his head the same way he had earlier when Dean jokingly called him John Constantine. The look was a bit unsettling. They both just stared at each other for a few silent moments.

 Eventually, Dean really couldn’t take the scrutiny anymore. He cleared his throat and lifted his wrist to check the time.

 “Oh, shoot, man. I’m already running late for work. I gotta go,” he said, looking back over toward Castiel. “If you get bored after you unpack, there’re little shops all around the place. You get lost, just go inside the nearest store, everyone here’s friendly. You, uh… You might want to be careful about what you say around them, though. Word gets around in a three block wide town.” He grinned at Castiel and crossed his arms over his chest.

 Castiel just stared at him.

 “Well, I guess you didn’t need to know that. You’re a, uh… A man of few words.”

 Castiel furrowed his eyebrows.

 “Okay. Bye, Cas.”

 “Goodbye, Dean.”


	2. Two is Company

“Knock it off!” Dean yelled, slamming his fist against the wall.

“Keep up that attitude and I’ll file a complaint!” Kurt threatened.

Dean rolled his eyes, getting out of bed. “I should be the one filing complaints!” he shouted through the wall, going over to his closet. The volume of  _ Mother, Father  _ only increased from there. Dean sighed and got dressed for work.

 “This song’s not that bad,” Sam said when he walked out. He was leaning against the kitchen counter eating an apple. 

 Dean just glared at Sam and went over to the cupboard, which they had neglected to fix again. The door now sat propped against the back of their couch.

 He grabbed a protein bar and stuffed it into his pocket. 

 “Why don’t you eat an apple or banana or something other than those bars once in awhile?” Sam asked, turning around and taking a red apple from its bowl. He held it up to his brother and took another bite of his own.

 Dean sneered at the fruit. “Get that out of my face.”

 “Come on, Dean, it’s not like it’ll kill you.” Sam put the apple back where he found it. “Choke down something healthy every now and then. You’re going to die before thirty.”

 “Please,” Dean scoffed. “Gabriel needs that advice more than I do. I’m perfectly healthy. Now let’s go before you’re late.”

 Sam pouted at his apple, but grabbed walked out of the kitchen, grabbing his backpack on the way outside. Dean followed him, snatching up his keys as he passed the hook. They got outside just in time to see Gabriel locking up his apartment door with Castiel by his side. 

 Dean frowned, because for the most part he always forgot to lock his doors, so he turned around and locked up his apartment. After all, that could be how Kurt was able to spy on him. Then again, he doesn’t really have proof that Kurt’s that much of a creep. It’s more of a hunch. 

 “Dean-o! Sampan!” Gabriel said when he turned to look at them. 

 Sam frowned. “It’s Sam.”

 Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Tomato, tomahto.” That earned him a glare from Sam.

 “Good morning, Dean,” Castiel greeted with a slight nod of the head. He looked over at Sam next. “Sam.”

 “Hey, Cas,” Dean greeted. 

Sam gave Gabriel’s ‘cousin’ a half smile in acknowledgement. The four of them stood there, facing each other without saying much of anything. They were shaded under the extended roof above them, but the warm hair still hugged their bare skin. 

 Dean and Castiel were staring intently at each other, Castiel not looking any different than before and Dean with raised eyebrows. Sam had been staring at the pair of them himself, looking back and forth between one face and the other, unsure of what to do or say.

 “So, it doesn’t get much more awkward than this, huh?” Gabriel finally piped up.

 All three heads turned in his direction. He flashed them a huge grin and took a set of keys out from Castiel’s loose grip. He swung them around his finger in front of the others. 

 “We gotta hurry up if we don’t want to be late,” he reminded them.

 “Oh, no!” Sam groaned. “I have a test first period.” He scampered down the steps, halting in front of Dean’s black Chevy Impala to turn around and stare pointedly at his brother. “Hurry up!”

 “A test?” Dean scoffed. “It’s only Wednesday!” He took his time walking over to his car. “All of your teachers are supposed to wait until Friday to pile you with test after test after test so that all you think about over the weekend is whether or not you did good on any of them.”

 “That’s not how it works at all,” Sam stated. He frowned, bouncing on his heels in anticipation with how slow Dean was walking. “Come on, Dean, you’re doing this on purpose!” 

 Dean dropped his keys to the ground. “Oops,” he said, slowly bending down to pick them up. When he grabbed them and straightened out his back, he stretched. “Jeez, I think I’m gettin’ old, Sammy. My back is killing me.”

 Sam rolled his eyes. 

 Dean grinned, going over to the driver’s side and unlocked the car. He looked up as he got inside to see Castiel looking at them from behind the wheel of his own car. Dean quickly looked away, shut the door after settling down, and brought his baby to life. 

 

\--  -- * -- -- 

 

The room Castiel stood in was a little underwhelming. He knew Lorehaven was small but he had expected a little more than three hundred fifty-seven students to be enrolled in Lichgate. Maybe five hundred at the least. He had four hundred kids in his sophomore class alone the year before, and a total of one thousand six hundred fifty-three students in his entire school. 

 The food was still the same as it had been back in Nevada, because apparently no matter what school you go to the cafeteria food will always be unsavory. 

 In the corner of the half gym-half cafeteria, Castiel sat next to Gabriel, Sam, and two other students who had introduced themselves as Jessica Moore and Joanna Harvelle. 

 Joanna (who had actually introduced herself as ‘Jo,’ but he caught a glimpse of her student identification card when she put her stuff down on the table) was reading an article on butterfly knives, all the while biting at the nail of her thumb. Jessica (who also went by a shorter version of her name, ‘Jess’)  had her homework sprawled out in front of her. She tapped the eraser end of her pencil on the table, frowning down at a Physics textbook. Gabriel and Sam were betting pieces of candy in Texas Hold’em. 

 Castiel himself sat on the other side of his ‘cousin,’ fiddling with his phone with an air of uncertainty floating around him. He didn’t feel particularly welcomed, but he didn’t exactly feel left out either. Everyone at the table were doing their own thing, and that didn’t bother Castiel. The only thing that really _bothered_ him was the fact that he had no idea what to do with himself.

 “Gabriel,” he started, getting a little tired of his and Sam’s conversation on hyperglycemia. 

 Gabriel glanced over at him. “Yessir?” 

 “What time does lunch hour end?” 

 Jo glanced up from her magazine. “1:05,” she told him. 

 “Thank you,” Castiel said, looking back down at his phone. He flipped it open to check the time. 

 12:37.

 Castiel stood up from his seat. He slid his phone into his pocket and stepped away from the table.

“Hey, where are you going?” Gabriel shouted after him.

 “Grocery store,” Castiel stated.

 Sam looked up from the row of cards. “Hey, you should go to _Marlow’s Diner_ ,” he suggested. “My brother works there, so you won’t have to feel uncomfortable or anything like that. Plus, they’ve got great burgers and fries.”

 Castiel nodded. “Thank you, Sam.”

 “Stop by _Sugar Plum_ on the way back,” Gabriel said. “Get me a donut or something. Miss Belle will give you a discount if you tell her we’re related.”

 “Gabriel, I am currently unemployed and can barely afford to get myself something,” Castiel stated. “Whereas you work at Miss Belle’s and could get anything half price. So I suggest that, if you really are craving something sweet that isn’t the hard candy and chocolate you have stored in your bag, you go to _Sugar Plum_ by yourself.” 

 Jo snorted, flipping to the next page of her article. Jess glanced up from her papers, flicking her eyes between Gabriel and Castiel. 

 Gabriel, however, just rolled his eyes and turned back to Sam. 

 Castiel turned back around, walking out of the cafeteria. Once he was outside, he checked the time on his phone again. 12:39. He slipped the device into his pocket, along with both of his hands, and walked down the street to where he thought he remembered seeing the diner.

  _Marlow’s Diner_ was kind of hard to forget in a sense that it was the only 50s styled public building in the entire town. Windows separated the top from the bottom, splitting the front of the building in half with a view of the inside. Under the windows, on the bottom part of the wall, were tiled in black and white checkers, while above the window was a simple, non-decorative gray wall. Then, above that, the roof protruded outward with a glowing blue line surrounding its rim. Marlow’s glowed large on top of the building, a darker shade of blue than the one outlining the roof. 

 Castiel could see Dean inside of the building, wearing the same thing he had been earlier with the addition of an aqua colored apron that had thin white vertical stripes falling down the front of it. 

 He hesitated outside of the building, under the roof and in front of the double doors, suddenly having second thoughts about going inside. He felt as though he’d be ruining something if he continued on. Like he’d cross a line that wasn’t even there in the first place. 

 But then Dean glanced out the window. Quickly at first, and only after a moment he realized who was standing outside. He looked back at Castiel and grinned, lifting a hand in a short wave. 

 Castiel pressed his lips into a thin line. He watched Dean walk over to a woman sitting with twin boys, pass them their check, and walk back to the counter. It took him a moment, but Castiel finally remembered how to walk.

 A bell chimed above him when he entered. A song he didn’t recognize played off a jukebox near the back, the voice singing about a breakup under the guise of a happy, upbeat instrumental. The floors matched the outside portion of the wall that held the windows up, only they were fatter. He could stand with both feet planted on a black square and still have some room to move in it. Blue leather cushioned stools lined the outside of the counter, only one person sitting at them drinking a large cup of coffee. There were black and white pictures on the walls behind the counter of Lorehaven back in the early 1950s, and of _Marlow’s Diner_ with Marlow standing in front of it, looking happy and tired and relieved all at once.

 “Hey, Cas!” greeted Dean. “Sit anywhere you want.” He grabbed the pot of coffee behind him and poured the man another cup. 

 Castiel make a beeline for the corner of the diner, sat himself in the booth, and looked out the window. The outside world, people were living their lives as per usual. A middle aged man was walking his dog across the street. He smiled at an older woman passing by, and then the two stopped to talk to each other. A kid ran past them, flying a toy airplane. He had almost tripped over the man’s dog, but quickly recovered and rushed around a corner. 

 He looked away, realizing for the first time that Lorehaven was a little too tightly knit for his liking. Everyone knew everyone. It was the opposite of his hometown, where nobody trusted anyone else and their only goal in life was to follow their boss’ orders and make money. 

 “So, what can I get for ya, buddy?” 

 Castiel blinked himself to awareness, moving his gaze from the table to Dean’s apron, to Dean’s hands holding a pad and a pencil, to Dean’s lips curled up into a sort of half smile, and finally to his eyes.

 “I was told you served good burgers,” was all that Castiel could think of to say. 

 Dean nodded. “Yeah, man, great choice in burgers.” He closed the pad and slid both his notebook and pencil into the pocket of his apron. He leaned over and grabbed the paper menu that had been propped up with a metal holder. “See how it says, in really small print, under the burger selections ‘Ask for more information’?” He grinned, standing up straight again. “That’s my doing. I finally convinced the owner to let me add more than a cheeseburger or hamburger, so if you just ask you can put bacon on there or replace the ground meat with chicken or something. Pretty much whatever you want, so long as we’ve got the ingredients.” 

 Castiel frowned. “The owner was…” he glanced back down at the menu, focusing in on the small print. “Reluctant,” was the word he settled for, “in giving out these options?”

 “Oh yeah,” Dean said. “The guy thinks that if we over complicate things, it’ll take away the authenticity of the whole scene. But, come on, the only other two restaurants here are fancier than your average diner, which means they can’t make burgers for shit.”   

 “I see,” Castiel mumbled, narrowing his eyes at the menu. He looked back up at Dean, who was waiting for him to actually order something. “What would you recommend?” 

“What would I recommend?” Dean repeated, raising his eyebrows. He was staring at Castiel like he couldn’t comprehend what he’d just been asked. “Uh… Well, do you like bacon?”

 Castiel nodded.

 Dean grinned. “Then I’ve got just the thing for you. What about to drink?”

 "Water,” Castiel supplied.

 “Sweet. I’ll be right back with your lunch, man.”

 

 *

 

“Okay. Gabriel, give me your Jolly Ranchers.” Sam scooted his pair of cards away from him, holding his palm face up for the loser of the game to give him what he had bet. 

 “You cheated,” Gabriel said. “I don’t know how you did it, but you cheated.” He picked up his small pile of hard candy and passed it on to Sam.

 “It’s a game of luck. There’s no possible way I could have cheated,” Sam told him. He pocketed the candy. “I haven’t even touched the deck.”

 Gabriel gasped. “Now you’re lying, too?” He smacked his hand against his chest to emphasis his ‘pain’ and ‘shock.’ “What have you become?” Gabriel leaned over the table and narrowed his eyes at the Winchester. “Do I need to take you away from old Dean-o? Has he corrupted you?!”

 Sam rolled his eyes. 

 “Gabe, don’t you usually hang out with Kali?” Jessica questioned. She had put her textbook aside in favor of a salad. Jo punched her in the arm, forcing her hand to jerk to the side and causing the fork to fall onto the table. “What was that for?”

 “They broke up,” Jo whispered over to her.

 Jessica’s face turned red and she looked back at Gabriel. “I’m so sorry, Gabriel. I didn’t know.”

 “Don’t sweat it,” Gabriel stated. He shrugged. “It wasn’t going all that great anyway. I mean, she’s all hands under the covers, but when it comes to everyday talking she’s kind of got a bad temper. Plus, she’s really violent and I was always a little worried she’d been planning my death since we got together.”

 Jo scrunched up her knows. “Could’ve gone without the sex comment.”

 “Oh, Jo. Always the destroyer of fun,” he stated. 

 “Don’t say that,” Sam told him. He pursed his lips and glared over at him. 

 “Sorry, sorry. That was out of line,” Gabriel said. His smile said the opposite. He saw Sam roll his eyes, and then looked down at his wristwatch. It was 12:56. “Jeez, how long does it take to get one sandwich?” Gabriel asked, stretched out his arms and legs. 

 “Speaking of which,” Jessica said, “Cas is pretty nice.”

 “A little awkward, though, right?” Jo asked. 

 Jessica shrugged. “Yeah, but he’s obviously not used to this whole scene yet. You gotta remember he just moved here yesterday.”

 “Yes, my cousin is a great person, now who else wants to complain about how slow he is?”

 

*

 

Castiel was halfway done with his bacon cheeseburger when Dean came back to his table. He slid into the seat across from him and leaned his forearms on the tabletop. 

 “So, how is it?” he asked. 

 Castiel finished swallowing his previous bite before responding. “Very good,” he said. “Thank you for choosing this one. I don’t usually add anything to my burgers. It’s a lot better than I expected it to be.”

Dean grinned, looking pleased with himself. He leaned into the back of his seat. “Double bacon cheeseburgers are my favorite. Figured if you had any taste at all, you’d like ‘em too.”

 Castiel took another bite of the burger, his eyes wandering outside again. He waited until he’d finished chewing and taken a sip of water before looking back at Dean. “This place is very small,” he stated. “Is everybody here acquainted?” 

 “I told you, man. A little too closed in for comfort, huh?” He looked over at the diner to make sure that everyone had what they wanted, since he should be doing his job instead of just sitting there. For lunchtime, the place was pretty empty. He looked back to Castiel. “I’ve only lived here for a few years, but I remember when I first got here everybody was wary of me. Newcomers are always welcome, but they get a little antsy when it’s a complete stranger. You’ll be fine, since you and Gabriel are related. But I was a complete stranger, so it took everyone a while to warm up to me.” He refrained from saying that it took him even longer to warm up to them. He shrugged a little, scooting away from the back of his seat and resting his elbows on the table. “I’ve met everyone except for one lady. She’s a recluse, always orders her necessities online and won’t even answer the door to anyone.”

 Castiel had almost finished his burger by the time Dean was through speaking. A quarter of it lay uneaten on the plate. His eyebrows were furrowed, and he was squinting at Dean and tilting his head very, very slightly to the left. 

 “Is there a reason she's confined herself in solitude?" he asked.

 Dean shrugged, leaning back a little. “Man, the only thing I know about her is her name.  Lucille Silverstein.” 

 Castiel nodded slowly. “Has anyone met her?”

 “Sure,” Dean said. “Her landlord and her mailman. Not too sure about anyone else, though. A lot of people say she just appeared out of nowhere one day. The kids make up stories about her, dare each other to go up and knock at her door - harmless stuff like that.”

 “Do you know what she does for a living?” Castiel picked up the rest of his burger and finished it off.

 Dean half shrugged. “A lot of people think she’s a novelist or some sort of writer. Some people say she’s psycho.” He frowned a little in thought. “It’s pretty creepy to think about; Annie Wilkes living in Lorehaven.”

 Castiel frowned. “I thought her name was Lucille.”

 Dean furrowed his eyebrows. “It is…” He said. “Dude, I was just referencing a movie.”

 The small bell jingled again, and Dean turned around to see who was there. 

 “I’ll be over in a minute,” he told the family. 

 Castiel noticed that the new customers had been the same kid with the airplane he saw earlier standing with a man and a woman. They walked over to a booth and sat themselves down.

 “Well, I gotta get back to work,” Dean said, standing up. “Really don’t want to get fired. I’ll get your bill and then you’re off the hook.” He walked over to the counter and placed himself behind the register. 

 While he was doing that, Castiel got out his phone and checked the time. 1:10. He rose to his feet, slipping the phone back into his pocket and taking out a dark green, battered leather wallet. He walked over to the counter, standing right across from Dean.

 Dean smiled at him. “$7.62,” he said. 

 Castiel took out a ten dollar bill. “Thank you,” he said. “I enjoyed the food.” ‘ _And the company’_ was left unsaid, but not unheard.

 “Anytime, Cas.” Dean put the money in the cash register. He started taking out the $2.38 that he owed him, but Castiel was already walking out. “Hey, wait, what about your change?”

 Castiel paused by the door. He turned around to squint at Dean. “That's your tip.”

 Dean’s breath hitched. He licked his lips, slowly putting the money back into the its respective slot. “Uh.. Thanks.”

 Castiel barely smiled, but it was definitely there. He turned back around and walked briskly down the street. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song I was going off when Cas first entered Marlow's was supposed to be "Ain't That A Shame" by Pat Boone.


	3. Three's A Crowd

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Gnoming," to those who don't know, is the act of taking someone's garden gnomes (or angel or flamingo or whatever) and going on an adventure with it. People take pictures of the gnome in front of wherever they went, and return to the gnome with the photographs before morning to let the owner know what their garden ornaments were up to.

The only real sense of familiarity that Castiel was able to grasp while living in Lorehaven was the darkness that crowded him at night. He recalled the nights he spent sneaking out of his house to hide in plain sight under the stars. All he wanted to do was to get away from the stress of it all. He’d never meant to hurt his father. Never meant to _ rebel _ against him. 

Castiel turned over in bed, urging himself to fall asleep. In front of him, he could see the bee sitting on the mattress, propped up against the wall. His name was Stinger. It was the first stuffed animal he’d ever received, and it was a gift from his mother. 

 He closed his eyes, drawing in a deep breath, holding it, and finally releasing it in an attempt to relax himself. 

 Finally, after over an hour, he began to nod off. Thoughts of being late to sixth period and having to explain to Mrs. Doyle that he had lost track of time at Marlow’s were disappearing from memory. The embarrassed feeling when his half brother winked at him from across the room disintegrated. He was able to sink into his mattress and float away on a cloud of dreams… 

And then his bedroom door flung open, filling his room with light and causing a noise so sudden and forceful that he couldn’t stop his eyes from reopening. Footsteps approached his bedside. He sat up, squinting against the harsh luminescence to see who was there.

It wasn’t a surprise when he saw Gabriel standing above his bed - he hadn’t been expecting a random stranger to just waltz into his bedroom in the middle of the night - but it still made him wonder why he was being disturbed in the first place. Especially when he wore a grin so mischievous it made Castiel suspect he committed a crime of some sort. 

“Gabriel,” he said, “it’s past midnight.” 

He winked. “You got that right, little bro!” 

Castiel’s eyes narrowed further, this time with skepticism. “We have school tomorrow.”

“Yes sir-ee!” Gabriel rested his hands on the mattress and leaned in a little closer to him. “And we’re going Gnoming!” 

Castiel tilted his head. “ _ Gnoming _ ?” he asked.

“Yeah, it’s basically the only fun thing to do around here.” Gabriel backtracked out of the bedroom, stopping under the doorframe. “Get dressed so we can go!”

Castiel pushed aside the comforter. “Why can’t we do this during the daytime?” He got to his feet, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. 

“Because,” Gabriel started, sounding exasperated, “we’ll get caught if we do it then!”

Castiel paused. “You mean this is illegal?” 

“No, no. Just get dressed!” He paused, watching Castiel drag himself to the closet. “Hey, you don’t happen to have a camera do you?”

“No,” he said. “I never needed one.” He grabbed a pair of dark jeans, slipping them on over his boxers. “Are cameras required for Gnoming?”

“Definitely.”

Castiel frowned, turning to Gabriel. “How are we supposed to play if we don’t have the tools?”

Gabriel shook his head. “Don’t worry about that. I usually just ask one of the neighbors if I can borrow theirs. Hurry up!” he left Castiel to finish changing in peace.

Castiel sighed, buttoned his white shirt the rest of the way up, slipped on the closest pair of shoes, and grabbed his trench coat. Before he turned the light off, he caught a glimpse of himself in the window. It wasn’t a clear visually, but he noticed the bedhead he was sporting. Quickly, and without much thought, he shut out the lights.

Gabriel was waiting for him by the front door.

“You took longer than my mile time, Casita,” he told him. “And that’s saying a lot.” He opened the door, exposing them to the chilly air. 

“I am not a small building,” Castiel said. 

“Sometimes you’ve got the brains of one,” Gabriel stated. 

Castiel frowned in response, opting out of feeding into Gabriel’s taunts and instead deciding to give him the silent treatment. Gabriel himself didn’t really notice; his brother’s always been more on the quiet side. He shut the door behind them and went over to the neighboring apartment.

It took him several loud raps on the door for Dean to finally answer. 

“What the hell,” Dean said, glaring at them. “It’s way too early for this crap, Gabriel.”

Gabriel shrugged. “We just need to ask you a little favor, since we’re your favorite neighbors.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “What do you want?” 

“Your camera,” Gabriel stated, snapping his fingers. 

Dean narrowed his eyes. “Really? You’re going Gnoming again?”

“Hey, I gotta teach Cassie here the ways of a small town somehow,” he said. “So, camera?” The door clicked shut in front of them, and Castiel turned to give Gabriel an expectant look. “He’ll be back,” he said in response. “They always come back.”

Thirty seconds later, the door reopened and a polaroid hit Gabriel’s chest. Dean appeared shortly after the camera, still pulling on his jacket. He shut the door behind him, locking it despite the fact that they lived a tightly knit, safe town. There was no way he’d ever take any risks with Sam’s safety, regardless of how safe the area’s supposed to be. 

Castiel squinted at Dean, tilting his eyes and furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. 

“I don’t trust him with my camera,” Dean stated.

Gabriel shrugged. “It’s true. The first time he leant it to me, he had a snazzy new digital camera and I dropped it in the creek.” He turned around and practically skipped down the staircase.

Dean looked over at Castiel, waiting for him to follow Gabriel down the stairs. When he just stared at him, Dean raised his eyebrows. “What?” he asked.

“Why do you keep allowing him to borrow it?” 

Shrugging, Dean started down the stairs. Castiel followed close behind.“If it’s not Gnoming, it’s TP-ing or replacing my deodorant with cream cheese.”

“Cream cheese…?” 

Gabriel let out a low whistle. “That was great, but it had nothing on my mayonnaise filled donuts.”

Castiel looked between the two of them in confusion

“Dude, gross. The was the worst,” Dean said. He looked back at Castiel and waited for the guy to catch up to him. They started walking side by side, with Gabriel in the lead. “There you have it, Cas. If I don’t let him borrow my camera, he starts a prank war.”

“Hey now, that’s not fair,” Gabriel said. “Gnoming is a prank, too. And besides, the last time it happened, Sam started it.”

Dean started laughing.

Castiel furrowed his eyebrows. “What did Sam do?”

“He fed me caramel covered onions!” Gabriel huffed. He looked back over at the two. “They looked just like caramel apples. Never trust him with sweets, you hear me? He’ll kill you.”

Castiel nodded. “I understand.”

Dean clapped him on the back, smiling over to Castiel, who turned to look at the older Winchester. Reluctantly, Castiel smiled back. 

“Let’s get this over with,” Dean said, sliding his hands into his pockets. “I’ve got work tomorrow, and you two have school.”

 

\--  -- * -- --

 

“Dude, stop taking creepy pictures of Jeannine’s gnomes at the church,” Sam said to Gabriel the next day during their lunch break.

 “What?” Gabriel scoffed. “That wasn’t me.”

 Sam rolled his eyes, sitting down next to him. “You’re the only one who goes gnoming anymore.” He tore open the protein bar Dean had tossed him that morning. “ _Everybody_ knows it’s you.”

 The front legs of Gabriel’s chair lifted off the floor. He clasped his hands together behind his head and nibbled on the lollipop stick in his mouth. “Please,” he said. “If they knew it was me, why haven’t they gotten me in trouble for it?”

 “Because the cops don’t do anything,” Sam stated. “Besides that, it’s also harmless.” He paused, narrowing his eyes at Gabriel. “You didn’t take Cas, did you?”

 “Of course I did!” The legs of his chair came down. Gabriel leaned over the table to grin at Sam. “You think I’d let this opportunity slip? He totally loved it!” 

 “Don’t listen to him,” said Castiel, coming to a stop next to Sam. 

 “Don’t lie, Castro.” Gabriel took the sucker out of his mouth. “You were grinning the entire time.”

 Castiel shook his head. “I was enjoying my conversation with Dean,” he said. Sam’s full attention turned to him then. “It had nothing to do with taking a gnome for a walk.”

 “Dean went, too?” Sam asked. 

 Gabriel nodded. “We would’a invited you, kiddo, but you were sleeping.”

 Sam frowned and looked down at his food. “I wouldn’t have gone anyway,” he said. “Gnoming is stupid.”

 “Gabriel went Gnoming again?” Jessica asked, falling down into the chair next to Sam. She looked over at their older friend. “Did you pick on poor Jeannine again?”

 “Why is it you’re the last to know these things?” Gabriel asked, sticking the sucker back into his mouth.

 Jessica rolled her eyes, opening up her textbook. “Because,” she said, “I don’t really care about the town gossip. I’ve got finals to study for.”

 “That’s a month away,” Gabriel informed him. 

 “Two weeks,” Sam corrected.

 Gabriel coughed out the candy, and Sam made a disgusted face. “Two weeks?!” Gabriel exclaimed. “Why didn’t you guys tell  me!”

 “Two reasons,” said Jo, stopping next to Castiel. “First: we figured you didn’t care. The other reason is because you’ve only started hanging out with us again on Tuesday.” 

 Gabriel shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a popular guy.”

 Jessica giggled, and Sam snorted. 

 “Cas, why aren’t you sitting down?” Jo asked, sitting down herself and looking up at Castiel.

 “I was just about to go to _Marlow’s Diner_ ,” he stated. “I only wanted to see how you were all doing.”

 “Marlow’s again?” Gabriel asked. “Where are you gettin’ all your money?”

 Castiel shrugged. “I’ve been saving up.”

 “If you need a job,” Jo said, “my mom’s hiring at the Roadhouse.”

 “Don’t you have to be eighteen to work there?” Sam asked. 

 Jo shrugged. “She doesn’t really care as long as you’re good at what you do.” She paused. “And don’t draw any attention to yourself.”

 Castiel nodded. “Thank you. I will think about it.”

 “Enjoy your lunch, Cas,” Jessica told him with a smile.

 He gave her a very small, half smile back. “Thank you. You, too.” He turned around and started for the door.

 “Don’t be late to sixth period this time!” Gabriel called after him. He didn’t turn around.

 

\--  -- * -- --

 

Dean glanced over at the door when the bell gave that telltale ‘ting.’ The place had been as calm as always, because the only people that ever came during the day were travellers, Julie and her twins, the Rolfe family, and sometimes teenagers from Lichgate High. A lot of the people in town either work all day, or prefer to stay on the healthier side of things and eat a vegetable or something stupid like that. 

 So he looked up, expecting some lost tourist, but was pleasantly surprised to see Castiel standing stiff with his tan trench coat and stoic expression.

 Dean grinned. “Sit wherever, Cas,” he said. He had been standing over a table, working on getting rid of the milk that Luke Rolfe spilled while playing with his dumb airplane. And yeah, okay, maybe Dean was just bitter because they were gifted with money - being the richest family in town and all - but that didn’t mean he couldn’t complain about spilled milk.

 He went into the back to throw the towels to the pile of tablecloths and other hand towels that needed to be washed sometime that week. After taking care of everything and scrubbing his hands with soap in the bathroom, he went back out to get Cas’ order.

Castiel had seated himself in the same spot he had yesterday; the booth at the far corner of the diner, away from everything else. Dean wiped the palms of his hands across his apron and went over to him. 

“Hey,” he said, taking out a notepad.

Castiel looked up. “Hello, Dean.”

“Same thing as yesterday?” 

 Castiel paused, looking over at the menu for a few moments before turning back to Dean. He nodded.

 “Awesome,” Dean said. He turned his back to Castiel and walked over to the kitchen area. “Double bacon cheeseburger!” he told the main cook, Stephen. 

 “Corrupting the townsfolk one meal at a time, huh?” Stephen called back. “This the same kid from yesterday?”

 Dean went over to the cabinet and got out a tall glass. “Yeah,” he said, picking up the pitcher. “I think it’s turning into his usual.”

 Stephen rolled his eyes. “He’s only ordered it twice in a row.”

 Dean grinned, putting the glass on a tray. “And he’s already dreaming about ‘em. I can tell.”

 Stephen snorted. “Get back to work, son.”

 “You’ll see,” Dean stated.

 “They’ll all see,” Stephen mocked.

 Dean rolled his eyes, stepping through the double swing doors with his tray. The only people in were Castiel and Julie. He smiled at her as he passed by, halting at Castiel’s table. He put the glass in front of him and flung a straw down next to it. Castiel picked up the straw and carefully ripped it open.

 “Thank you,” he mumbled, crumpling the paper in his hand and putting the straw into the water. 

 “Sure thing,” Dean said. He paused, standing a little awkwardly by the table. After Castiel had taken his first sip, he glanced up at Dean expectantly. “Um…” he cleared his throat. “I, uh, I was thinking…” He trailed off, his gaze darting out the window, leaving his sentence unfinished. 

 Castiel nodded. “Yes.”

 Dean huffed, his eyes still wandering the streets. “Hanging out with you last night wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be.” He winced at how bad that sounded. Castiel furrowed his eyebrows. “I don’t know, maybe we could hang out again sometime. Without Gabriel.”

 Castiel squinted at Dean, searching for something in his expression. Then, slowly, he nodded. “Of course, Dean. I’d like that.”

 “Awesome,” Dean breathed out. A grin spread across his face and he nodded at him. “Awesome,” he repeated. “Cool, so, yeah.” 

For a whole ten seconds, they just stood there and stared at each other; Dean with a goofy smile and Castiel with a confused expression. Then Dean seemed to collect himself, and he turned away to see Julie.

Castiel watched him, listening in on their conversation about why she didn’t have her kids with her. He drew some more water from the straw, and didn’t bother looking away when Dean glanced over. 


	4. Fake It 'Til You Make It

Sunday morning, Dean woke up before Kurt even started playing Journey. He let himself relax in bed for a little while, thinking about the past week. Monday: Dean was suckered into helping some guy move in. Tuesday: Said guy actually moved in. Wednesday: Dean went fucking  _ Gnoming  _ with him. Thursday: They agreed they should hang out sometime. Friday: Castiel didn’t go to Marlow’s for lunch, and Dean was  _ disappointed _ . When he got home, he fixed the cupboard door as a sort of distraction. Saturday: Castiel showed up, but Dean was a little too busy to actually sit down and talk to him, and that night when Gabriel wanted to go Gnoming again, Dean really wasn’t up for it.

 He rolled over, burying his face into the pillow and groaning. He kind of wanted to talk to Castiel again, but he was _nervous_. He felt like he was thirteen again and didn’t know how to flirt! And then he groaned again, because he just compared his reluctance on talking with Castiel to flirting. Which is ridiculous, because it wasn’t like that. Not even a little bit. Dean barely knew the guy. 

 No matter what he thought, though, it didn’t make this whole situation any less awkward. 

 He tried not to think about it too much. Instead, he closed his eyes again, willing himself to fall back asleep. It was his day off, and he really just wanted to get as much shut-eye as he could. 

 But _of course_ the universe just despises Dean, because as he’s about to lose consciousness again, Journey starts playing. 

 “Screw you!” he shouted, slamming the side of his fist against the wall.

 The music only got louder after that. 

 Dean stayed in bed for half of a song before standing up and getting his blood running by getting ready for the day. But once he was all cleaned up, he stumbled his way to the couch and tried to fall asleep there. That peacefulness lasted a minute, as Sam came out of his bedroom. 

 The younger Winchester paused at the sight of his brother half-asleep on the couch. “The music doesn’t bother you?” he asked.

 “It’s muffled out here,” Dean mumbled.  

 Sam shrugged, making his way into the kitchen. “I offered to switch rooms with you,” he said.

 Dean scrunched up his nose. “Dude, no.” He sat up on the couch and blinked at his brother. “Kurt’ll be leaned up against the wall with a glass pressed to his ear tryn’a hear every breath you take.”  
  
“Dean.”

 “What?” Dean scoffed. “The guy’s a creep! Besides,” he looked down to hide a yawn, “I don’t want to hear Gabriel snoring. Or doing anything obscene.” 

 “I never hear anything from his side,” Sam stated, taking a couple of eggs out of their refrigerator. “Do you want eggs?”

 “Nah.” Dean got up off the couch and stretched out his back. “I think I’m gonna grab something at the store.”

 Sam had taken out a pan and put it on the stove, but stopped to show his brother a frown. “Honestly, Dean, you are not having pie for breakfast again.”

 “Try and stop me, bitch.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “I’m just trying to prevent you from heart disease and diabetes.” He turned to stove on, muttering a belated “Jerk” under his breath. 

 Dean walked into the hallway, snatching his keys from the hook. “Don’t let any strangers into our house.”

 “Yeah, if the lady who never leaves her house comes knocking at our door, I’ll be sure to steer clear.”

 “Good.”  Dean stepped onto the deck, breathing in the warm air. He shut the door behind him and headed for the stairs, but stopped short when he glanced over at Gabriel’s door. 

 It wouldn’t be weird if he asked Castiel if he was free, would it? It’s not like they hadn’t already agreed to hang out. Maybe they could just grab a bite to eat, and if things get too awkward he can always just take him back home or something… But then again, Gabriel usually went to church on Sundays, didn’t he? So did that mean Castiel went too? If they were getting ready for church, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to interrupt them. 

 Dean sighed and turned back to the stairs, approaching them just as the door opened. 

 “Dean-o!”

 He paused mid-step, then backtracked to face Gabriel. He stood, alone, in the doorway wearing his Sunday best. Which wasn’t really anything special; just a dress shirt and slacks. 

 “Mornin’,” he said, nodding his head. The look Gabriel was giving him, though, made him narrow his eyes. They stood there, look at each other for a moment longer before Dean finally spoke up. “What?”

 “I wanted to ask a favor,” Gabriel admitted, sliding his hands into his pockets.

 Dean raised his eyebrows. “A favor?”

 “Yessir.” Gabriel leaned on the doorframe, his lips pulled up in a grin. “See, I’ve got to get to church, and then I have work. But my poor little Cassie is sick. Think you can take care of him for me?”

 Dean took a deep breath, because this would be the perfect opportunity to actually hang out with him. But it was a little too good to be true, in all honesty. Things like this just didn’t happen in real life.

 “The guy’s seventeen years old, I think he can take care of himself.” 

 “I wish,” Gabriel scoffed. “He’s needy, man. Kept asking me to get him water and food. Said he’s too dizzy to get up or something.”

 Dean narrowed his eyes. “Wow, I hope you never have children.”

 Gabriel raised his eyebrows, but the smile remained. “Now that’s just plain rude.” He glanced down at his watch. “Anyhow, I’m already running late. You going to help my poor, defenseless, sick cousin... or are you just going to leave him flopping around in there like a fish out of water?”

 Dean shook his head. There was definitely something wrong with this picture. “The dude can take care of himself.”

 Gabriel pushed himself away from the doorframe and backed into the house. He moved out of the way for Dean to walk inside. “You can have the rest of the pie I brought in last night from work.”

 “Sold.” 

 Gabriel smirked, leading Dean further into the house. “You already know where everything is,” he said with a shrug. He walked over to Castiel’s room and knocked on the half-open door. There was a grunt from inside, and Gabriel pushed the door open all the way. “Rise and shine, Cassie.”

 Castiel’s back was facing them. He was buried under blankets, one leg sticking out of the covers for air. “What?” His voice came out raspy.  

 “I was just comin’ in to tell you I’m heading out for church,” stated Gabriel.

 Castiel didn’t move. “You already told me that.”

 “Huh, guess I did. Well I’m telling you again.”

 Castiel slowly shook his head, then buried half of his face into his pillow. “I do believe that when people are sick they require large amounts of rest.”

 “Yeah,” Gabriel said. “I’ve heard something like that. Anyway, I also came back to tell you that Dean-” Castiel stiffened “-is going to be taking care of you.” 

 “I don’t need to be taken care of.” Castiel coughed. 

 “Uh-huh. Well, I’ll see you two later.” Gabriel clapped Dean on the back and turned to leave. 

 Once they both heard the front door shut, Castiel slowly turned around to face the rest of the room. He was clutching onto that stuffed bee that Dean had seen him carry up there when he moved in. 

 Dean gave him a sheepish grin. “Hey’a, Cas.”

 There was a pause on Castiel’s end, until his entire body visibly relaxed into the mattress. “Hello, Dean.”

 

*

 

Sam had finished just finished making his eggs when he heard loud knocking at the front door. He frowned to himself, dropping the eggs onto a plate and putting the pan in the sink before walking out of the kitchen. He peaked through the peephole and took a minute to wallow in self pity before opening the door.

 “Don’t you have church?”

 “I,” Gabriel started as he shouldered his way into the house, “go to church nearly every Sunday. I can spare one morning to get back at Dean.”

 Sam shook his head. He shut the door behind Gabriel and turned to him with furrowed eyebrows. “Get back at Dean for what?”

 Gabriel crossed his arms over his chest. “For not going Gnoming with me last night!”

 “You’re kidding.”

 

*

 

“Dean, I really don’t need someone to take care of me.”

 Dean shrugged. He pulled out the desk chair and sat down next to Castiel’s bed. “I don’t know, man. I heard you’re basically just a baby in a trenchcoat when you’re sick.”

 Castiel pursed his lips, rolling back over to face the wall. “I’m not wearing my trenchcoat,” he mumbled.

 Dean laughed. He sat there for a moment, just looking at Castiel’s back, and then got to his feet. “You want anything while I’m up?” he asked.

 “Water. Please.”

 Dean headed out for the kitchen, taking a glass from their cupboard and placed it under the spout. He paused, wondering whether or not Castiel wanted ice in his water. He shrugged, not really caring all that much, and filled the cup. 

 He set it on the counter and opened the fridge, taking out a blackberry pie. He cut himself two slices, and then replaced the rest of the pie with a can of whipped cream.

 He reentered Castiel’s room armed with two pieces of pie, one fork, a glass of water, and an entire can of whipped cream.

 “She’s my cherry pie!” Dean sang, rocking his head to the imaginary beat as he went over to the desk. “Cool drink of water, such a sweet surprise.” He put everything onto the table and sat back down. “Here, Cas. Drink up.” He picked up his fork and dug in. 

 Castiel slowly turned back around to face him. His eyes were half lidded and he was hiding the bottom half of his face behind the bee. “It’s blackberry pie, Dean. And it doesn’t have a gender.”

 Dean choked on his bite. He balled his hand up into a fist to cover his mouth. When he swallowed the piece, he cleared his throat and put his hand down. “Cas,” he started, turning to look at him. “You don’t watch movies, you don’t read, you don’t listen to music. What _do_ you do?”

 “I read,” Castiel protested. He slowly sat up, then coughed into the crook of his arm. He rubbed his eyes and reached for the water. “I just don’t immerse myself in comic books.” He took a sip of his water. 

 For a moment after that, the only noise in the room was the ‘whoosh’ of the whipped cream that Dean circled around his breakfast. Castiel had set the water back down and propped himself against the headboard of his bed, his eyes closed.

 “I observe,” he said finally.

 Dean raised his eyebrows and looked up. “What?” he asked through a mouthful of pie.

 Castiel opened his eyes. “I observe my surroundings. That’s what I do.”

 “So you stalk people?” 

 Castiel frowned. “I ‘people-watch.’ Stalking would require me to follow them around.” 

 “Right. You stay in one place, so it’s demoted to people watching instead of actually stalking.”

 “Think of it however you’d like, Dean.”

 Dean grinned, shoving a few more forkfuls into his mouth. They were both silent until Dean finished his two slices. 

 “Get some rest, Cas. You need it.” He picked up his plate and started for the door.

 “I’m not tired.”

 Dean paused halfway there, then turned around to face Castiel with raised eyebrows. “Well, the more you sleep the faster you’ll heal. So lay back down and go dream catching or something.”

 “Perhaps we could play video games.”

 “Dude.”

 Castiel nodded to himself. “Yes, Gabriel often talks about how he wishes he could play more video games.”

 “That’s probably all he does.”

 “No,” Castiel tilted his head. “He says he’s too busy with work and school.”

 Dean frowned, remembering how it was actually his day off and he could’ve been spending it lazing around or hanging out with Sammy. But then his eyes met with Castiel’s, and most of his thoughts just sort of faded away… He cleared his throat and gave him a slight nod.

 “Alright, buddy. I’ll help you move all of your stuff into the living room after I put these dishes away.”

 Castiel smiled. 

 

\--  -- * -- -- 

 

Later that evening, Sam heard the door opening from where he sat on the couch. He turned around to look over at Dean, who was sporting a goofy grin. He put his keys on the hook and went into the kitchen. Sam watched him grab a water bottle from the fridge.

 “Was the line long?”

 Dean’s grin faltered and he looked over at Sam. “What’d you say?” He twisted the cap open and took a swig.

 “The line at the grocery store. Was it long?” he asked again. He glanced over at the clock hanging from their wall, and then looked back at his brother. “It took you eight hours just to grab breakfast.”

 “Oh. Yeah.” Dean closed the bottle and put it back where he found it. “I, uh… I was with Cas.” 

 Sam raised his eyebrows. “You were with Cas?”

 Dean shrugged. “Yeah. So what?”

 “I don’t know,” Sam said. “It’s just - you usually spend your days off marathoning Clint Eastwood movies.”

 Dean rolled his eyes. “What, is spending the day with a friend now a crime?”

 “There’s no need to get all defensive about it. I was just saying.”

 “Well…” Dean licked his lips. “So was I.”

 Sam rolled his eyes at his brother, then watched him head for his bedroom. He sat back down at the couch and picked up the remote. 

 “Sam!” Dean shouted from the other room.

 Sam blinked, confused for half a second before he had to stop himself from laughing. He had almost forgotten that him and Gabriel had duct taped most of Dean’s belonging to the ceiling. 

 “What the hell?!” Dean was just outside of his bedroom now, glaring at his brother.

 Sam turned around to face him. “Gabe did it!”

 

*

 

Castiel had just put his comforter back in his room when Gabriel entered the house. He looked over to Castiel coming out of his bedroom and grinned over to him.

"Sup, lil' bro?"

Castiel nodded at him. "Welcome home, Gabriel."

Gabriel stretched and walked into his room. He changed out of his church clothes and into a t-shirt and cargo shorts. When he walked back out, Castiel was rummaging through the refrigerator. Gabriel walked up to him and smacked him on the back with a grin.

"Hey, thanks for pretending to be sick."

Castiel poured himself a glass of water. He glanced over at Gabriel. "Do not expect it to happen again."

"Aw, man, why not?"

"Because I do not approve of lying to Dean in order for you to prank him." 

"But can't you just imagine his face right now?" He snickered. "Totally worth it."


	5. He's A Rebel

Dean glanced up from behind the counter, his eyes falling onto Castiel as he approached him. He grinned and lifted his entire head up, giving the guy his full attention. Castiel seemed a little tired that day, but the telltale sign that he hadn’t slept wasn’t there. The lines under his eyes were nonexistent. He figured it was just because he was still recovering from the cold he had Sunday. 

“You finished already?” 

Castiel nodded. “I couldn’t fully appreciate the salad you gave me.”

Dean shrugged, looking down at the cash register. “Hey, man, you needed something healthy in your system. You look awful.” He looked back up at him. “Besides, you told me to surprise you!”

Castiel took out his wallet and handed him a ten dollar bill. “I want all my change back today,” he muttered. The childish _ ‘You don’t get a tip’  _ remained unsaid, but clearly heard.

Dean laughed. “Alright, Cas.” He put the money into the register and took out the remaining bills and coins, handing it over to him. “Hey, one other thing I forgot to ask you.”

Castiel paused just as he was putting the money in his wallet. He glanced up at Dean and, as if satisfied with his facial expression, continued the process of putting away his money. He slipped the wallet into his back pocket, nodding for Dean to continue.

“Yesterday, while we were hanging out, Gabriel duct taped most of my shit to the ceiling,” he explained. “We’re gonna get him back for that.”

Castiel frowned. “Dean, don’t you think this to be a bit childish?”

Dean mimicked his expression. “Cas, don’t you think he deserves it?”

“Not really.”

“Dude!” Dean huffed. “He. Duct taped. My. Busty. Asian. Porn. Magazines. To the fucking ceiling! I can’t reach that, I don’t even know how he reached-” Dean stopped himself. He stared at Castiel with furrowed eyebrows. He smacked the top of the counter open-handed. “Damn it, Sammy!”

Castiel tilted his head.

Dean ran a hand down his face and sighed. “I’m so stupid. We’re pranking both of them.”

“Won’t that just result in a war?”

“Now you’re catchin’ my drift.” Dean smiled again. “So, will you help me out or what?”

The two of them stared at each other for a moment. Then Castiel sighed, giving in. He nodded. “As long as it doesn’t get too out of hand.”

Dean’s smile widened. “You’re the best, Cas. I’ll come over later and we can work out the details then.”

 

\-- -- -- --

 

Dean swung the door open and frowned to himself. He peered inside with raised eyebrows. The sight of Sam’s long hair spilling over the top of the couch eased him a little. He walked inside and shut the door behind him just as Sam turned his head.

“Seriously, Sammy,” Dean said, “you need to keep the doors locked.”

“As if you always remember to lock them, Dean.” 

“I’m a busy guy, I’ve got a lot on my mind!” He set his keys on the hook and stretched a little. “You got any plans this week?”

Sam huffed. “Studying,” he muttered, turning back to the TV. “Next week we have finals.”

“Got any study groups to go to after school or whatever?”

Slowly, Sam turned to look back at his brother. His eyes were narrowed in suspicion, and Dean turned to admire the refrigerator. “I was going to spend most days this week studying with Jess at her place…” He furrowed his eyebrows. “Why?”

Dean shrugged and opened the refrigerator door. “I don’t know, I was thinking maybe we could go get some ice cream sometime this week. But if you’re busy everyday-”

“We can go out for ice cream!” Sam interrupted. He paused as if confused by his own reaction, then swallowed a lump in his throat. “I mean, the frozen yogurt place is healthier, but ice cream sounds good. I can move my schedule around to fit yours.”

Dean grinned. “I get off early on Wednesday.”

Sam nodded. “Alright. Can I use your phone to call her?”   
“Sure,” said Dean. He shut the refrigerator door, not finding anything appealing in there anyway, and walked over to Sam. 

Gratefully, Sam took the phone that Dean had handed out to him. He flipped it open and dialed in the number as Dean loitered about in the living room. Sam picked up the remote to turn the volume of the TV down. “Hey, Jess! I can’t make it on Wednesday, but I’m still free tomorrow.” 

Dean grinned at the information. 

“What?” A pause. “Yeah, I can do that. We should be studying the rest of the week, too.” There was another pause in Sam’s voice, listening to his friend talk. He chuckled a little. “I mean, you could try to get Jo with us on Thursday. I don’t think she’d be interested, though.” Another pause. “No, Jo’s smart. She’ll pass for sure.” He smiled as he listened to her. “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye.” Finally, Sam pulled the phone away from his ear and pressed the ‘End Call’ button. 

Dean walked over to him and took his phone back. “Sam and Jess sittin’ in a tree-”

“Shut up!”

Dean ruffled his hair. “Whatever, Sam. I’m going over to Cas’, I don’t know when I’ll be back. Did you eat dinner yet?”

Sam shrugged. “I’ll find something.”

“Well, if you can’t, you know Rufus is always cookin’ something weird up.”

Sam scrunched up his nose. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Hey, at least his food is edible.”

“I’m not a bad cook, Dean.”

“See you later, Sammy.” 

Although he couldn’t see it, Dean knew that Sam was pouting at his back. It took a lot for Dean not to chuckle as he re-picked up his keys and headed out the door. He made sure to lock it before heading next door. 

Suddenly feeling a little anxious, he paused just out front. Illogical thoughts of Castiel hating him for trying to prank his cousin started to show through, and the fact that Sam seemed so excited for ice cream also made it a little difficult to prank him too. He had to remind himself that if Castiel has known Gabriel for seventeen years, then there’s no way he could be angry with Dean for wanting to pull a few harmless pranks. As for Sammy… Well, it’s not like this would be their first prank war. 

So Dean grew a pair and knocked on the door. 

A few quiet moments went by before the door opened. Castiel stood on the other side, his hair as messy as always and his eyes still holding a tired look to them. He blinked wearily at him.

“Hello Dean,” he greeted, stepping aside.

Dean grinned. “Hey, Cas.” He past the wide open door and into the hallway. There was no sign of Gabriel, so he took a couple more steps inside and looked around. “Gabriel not home yet?” The door clicked shut behind him, and he turned to look over at Castiel, who was shaking his head.

“He’s still at work.” 

Dean raised his eyebrows. “I thought Miss Belle’s closes up shop at six.”

Castiel shrugged. “I don’t know the scheduling, but Gabriel usually doesn’t get back until seven. I believe he helps her bake and clean after closing time.”

“Huh. So… We’re free from Gabriel all week?” He asked, backing up as he did so.

“We should be. From what I know, he only ever takes Saturdays off.” 

Dean grinned and turned back around to face the living room. “Awesome,” he stated. “Let’s brainstorm, then.” He walked over to the loveseat and fell down on it. 

“Alright…” Castiel paused by the kitchen entrance. “I was going to order takeout, if you’d like some.”

Dean looked up. “Uh, sure, Cas. Who’re you gonna call?”

“I was thinking Chinese.”

At first, Dean had forgotten that Castiel was still new here and didn’t know all the owners by name. It was a little weird. The week went by really fast, but it still felt as though he and Castiel knew each other for longer than that. 

Dean shifted on the sofa. “Sounds good.”

Castiel walked over to the home phone sitting at the kitchen counter and picked it up. He paused, and looked over at Dean. “Dean, do you know the number?”

Dean smiled. “Yeah, Cas.” He gave him the number, and then told him what he wanted to eat when Castiel gave him another questioning look. 

Once everything was set, Castiel walked over to the sofa and sat down on a sofa chair next to the love seat. He splayed his arms across the arm and leaned over toward where Dean was sitting.

“Do you have anything in mind?” he asked.

Dean looked over at Cas, reaching his arm across the back of the couch to get more comfortable. “All right. I’m pretty sure Sam will only be home on Wednesday this entire week, so I was thinking that either tomorrow night or some other night while he’s out, we can put chicken broth in his shower head or something like that.”

Castiel frowned. “That is very unkind.”

“So was duct taping my busty asians! I couldn’t even look at the boobs on the cover - they put the tape right across her nipples!” Dean slammed his head back and groaned. “And when I took ‘em down, they ripped.”

“Okay…” Castiel hesitated. “So, chicken broth. What about Gabriel?”

“Gabriel’s trickier.” Dean shifted, bringing his knee up to rest on the cushion and turning to look directly at Castiel. He brought his arm away from the back of the couch and rested it on his calf. “I wanted to do something involving food, but there’s no way he wouldn’t be suspicious if I offered him an oreo or whatever.” Dean looked thoughtful for a moment. “Is Gabriel a heavy sleeper?”

Castiel shrugged. “I never enter his room at night.”

“Well, so much for sewing his pajamas to the mattress.” Dean noted Castiel’s smile at that, and he himself chuckled a little bit in return. 

“Gabriel takes his showers at night, right before bed,” Castiel told him. “We could put hot sauce in his body wash before he gets home.”

For a minute, all Dean did was stare at Castiel in disbelief. Then he erupted into a fit of laughter, covering his face with his hands and shaking his head. He moved his leg off the couch and leaned with his elbows on his knees, still chuckling to himself.

Castiel frowned. “Hot sauce that contains very strong jalapenos does burn the skin, Dean.”

“I know, I know!” Dean told him. He waited until he calmed down before clearing his throat out and looking back at Castiel. “It’s just- that could seriously hurt him.”

Castiel squinted his eyes and tilted his head at him. “I thought that was the objective.”

“Not really, Cas. We want to irritate or spook ‘em, not have to drag them to the hospital.” Dean smiled. “Besides, you’re supposed to be the man of reason, here.”

“Okay.” Castiel nodded. 

“Alright, how about we replace his toothpaste with wasabi?”

“Won’t he realize it isn’t toothpaste when it comes out green?”

“Food dye,” Dean stated, leaning back a little with a pleased expression.

Castiel pursed his lips. “I still think the hot sauce in body wash thing was a good one.”

“Are- are you pouting?” Dean raised his eyebrows.

“No.”

“You’re pouting!” Dean grinned. “Alright. You wanna start a prank war with Gabriel, you can do that on your own. I still don’t recommend it, though.”

“It should only burn so much if it’s left on the skin for a prolonged period of time,” Castiel said. “He could easily take it off with a milk bath.”

“Fine, Cas. If we need to up our game, that’ll be the next thing we do to him.” 

Castiel nodded eagerly and Dean couldn’t help the smile on his face. A week and they were quickly becoming best friends. Who would’ve guessed that Dean Winchester would even have a best friend, in all honesty. He’s always sort of been the loner, despite the fact that he was incredibly popular in high school. Back then, it was really just because he was attractive. 

There was a loud knock on the door, interrupting the staring contest they had been in. Dean hadn’t even realized he had been lost in Castiel’s eyes until he was snapped out of it, and thank the delivery man for that. God only knows how long the two of them would’ve stayed like that. 

Dean cleared his throat as Castiel got up from his seat to head down the hallway. He got up himself to follow Castiel, and stood right behind him when he answered the door.

The lady outside had strawberry blonde hair pulled up into a tight ponytail, and a bright smile on her lips as the door opened. She looked to Castiel first, greeting him with a, “Good evenin’. I’ve got a delivery here for Castiel.” Then she glanced behind him at Dean. Her smile widened. “Hey, Dean!”

Dean nodded his head, taking out his wallet the same time Castiel did. After seeing this, Dean put his arm on his shoulder. “I’ll pay,” he said. “How much do we owe ya, Alice?”

“$31.80.”

“No, Dean.” Castiel turned to look at him. “You’re my guest.”

“Come on, man. Don’t be stubborn.”   
Castiel narrowed his eyes. “I am not a stubborn person.”

Dean snorted, retracting his arm. “‘Course not, Cas.” He looked back over at Alice. “Is this your last delivery for tonight?”

She shook her head. “I have to hit up Jeannine’s, and then I’m off the hook.”

“Alice, do you think you could run an errand for us after your shift?” Dean asked her.

Alice furrowed her eyebrows and looked between the two. “Um.. That depends. What did you need?”

“Chicken broth, blue food coloring, and wasabi.” He paused. “But real wasabi. Not that American horseradish crap.”

She frowned at him. “There’s a difference?”

“Oh, yeah. Huge difference.”

“Well… how am I supposed to know?”

Dean shrugged. “Russell has pretty much everything. You ask him, you can get a decent price. You won’t even have to pay a penny out of your own pocket. So, can you?”

Her previously healthy complexion paled. “Russell kind of…” She licked her lips, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. “He kind of scares me a little bit.”

“What?” Dean scoffed. “Russell? He’s harmless. He just needs quick cash.”

“I know, but…” she looked back to Castiel, and then at Dean. It took her a minute, but she eventually drew in a breath. “Okay.” 

“Great.” Dean grinned. “Here,” he said, handing her the money before Castiel could do much.

“Dean.”

“You can pay for the supplies,” Dean told him. “How much do you think it’ll cost? Twenty-five? Thirty?” He glanced over at Alice.

Castiel sighed, but didn’t complained as he pulled out two twenties and handed it over to her. 

Alice smiled at him and exchanged both of their money for the food. “I’ll give you back whatever’s left afterwards. Do you want them all by tonight?”

Castiel moved to bring the food into the living room, letting Dean carry on conversation as needed.

Dean considered this, and then figured it was too much to do in one night and shook his head. “Can you drop it off at Marlow’s tomorrow?”

“Sure.”

“Thanks, Alice.” He grinned at her and she nodded, turning around. 

Dean shut the door and went back into the living room. Castiel had set their food down on the coffee table in front of the sofa and sat himself down on the loveseat. Dean relaxed into the spot next to him, reaching for his box and chopsticks. 

“Have you thought about getting a job?” Dean asked, opening the container. He whiffed the smell and eagerly pulled his chopsticks apart to dig in.

Castiel did the same, in a much slower manner. “Yes,” he admitted. “I was thinking of working at the Roadhouse.”

“Jo offer you the job?”

“Yes.”

“Figures. Her mom’s always in need for an employee,” Dean explained. “I worked there before my brother came to live with me, but I had to quit because of the hours. Didn’t want to leave poor Sammy alone that late.”

“That’s very selfless of you.”

Dean shook his head. “It’s not.” He frowned at the food, suddenly losing his appetite. “I didn’t have a job for the first week Sam was there. Could hardly pay for dinner.” He stretched his legs out and leaned back against the cushion. “It’s just a damn good thing we have such a great uncle. Without the money he sent, we would’ve been living on the street by now.”

Castiel concentrated on chewing for a moment, digesting the information more than the food. He set his chopsticks in the container and risked a glance Dean’s way. “Would it be rude of me to ask why your brother moved in with you?”

Dean caught Castiel’s eye. He flashed the dark haired kid a reassuring smile. “Nah. He just didn’t want to live with our dad anymore…” Dean looked away. “Which I kind of get, but… At the same time, he’s  _ Dad _ . Despite what Sam thinks, our dad’s always at least tried to be there for us.”

“How come you moved, then?”

Dean hesitated in his response. “I was just… I was just tired of moving around so much, I guess. I moved here when I was sixteen, after getting lost on a hunting trip. I was reluctant to stay, because of Sammy and all…”

Castiel nodded, silently urging him to continue.

“Sam was twelve.” He took a deep breath and moved to lean forward. “They didn’t find me for a while. By the time I turned seventeen, they had just realized where I was. Dad didn’t…” He frowned. “He didn’t send out a search party or anything.” Dean wiped a hand over his face. “I can’t believe I’m telling you all this,” he breathed. A small chuckle escaped his lips. “You’re so…” he looked over to Castiel, scanning him for the first time. What he was about to say died on his tongue, and he swallowed it back down. “Why are you here?” he asked eventually. 

Castiel narrowed his eyebrows.

Dean huffed out a laugh. “As in, why’d you move in with Gabriel?”

Castiel looked to his food. “If you asked Gabriel,” he started, “he’d say it’s because our dad kicked me out.”

“What?” Dean furrowed his eyebrows. “I thought you two were cousins.”

“We are. We’re also half-brothers.”   
“Whoa. What?”

“Our father is a very awkward man in most situations,” Castiel started. “He doesn’t like being around a lot of people, but he can read anyone like an open book. He’s an author. Characterization is one of his many specialties.” He rubbed his thumb in circles around the cardboard takeout box, as if comforting the container. “He met Gabriel’s mother at a young age, but after three sons they couldn’t seem to handle each other anymore. He and Gabriel’s aunt had an affair… Resulting in my older sister, Anna. A year later, I was born. They’ve been together ever since.”

Dean rubbed the back of his neck. “Jeez, Cas…”

Castiel shrugged. “It affected Gabriel more than it did me. He was the one who had to endure it, even if he was still an infant.” He frowned and looked up, stilling his thumb. “His mother had never married him, and had given Gabriel her own last name when he was born. He likes to tell people we’re cousins so he doesn’t have to explain it all.”

“Well… what about you?”

Castiel turned to look at Dean. “I don’t really care. I only know of it from Michael, and bits and pieces I’ve overheard from my parents arguing.” He shrugged, more to himself than to Dean it seemed. “My father didn’t kick me out.” He turned back to stare at the coffee table. “My mother did… In a way.”

Dean narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

“I was rebellious,” he admitted. “I went out a lot. Spent most of my time with people I didn’t really know.” 

Dean’s eyebrows raised further and further with everything Castiel was saying. He couldn’t believe that Castiel was talking about  _ himself _ . There was no way he could’ve actually been a rebel… At least, not judging by appearances. Well, maybe the trench coat did kind of give off a drug dealer vibe, but that was about it.

“Anna was much worse than I was. She ran away a couple of different times, and eventually our parents let her stay with our uncle on our father’s side. Currently, she’s on her own, but she didn’t really like it with him either… I was given the choice to stay with him, but I had never gotten along with Metatron.”   
Dean nodded, waiting silently.

Castiel took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “I wasn’t necessarily kicked out. I’ve been legally emancipated since sixteen, when I moved in with a former girlfriend of mine.”

Dean swallowed a lump in his throat. He licked his lips, his eyes never leaving Castiel’s face.

“She…” Castiel frowned. He stayed still for a few moments, as if trying to mull over what he did and did not want to share. “She died,” he said finally. “And I couldn’t afford the house we lived in by myself. Nor did I really want to stay there. So I tried to go back home. I called my father, and he said that I was always welcome to live with them. But when I got there, it became evident he hadn’t wanted to tell my mother until the very last second.” He started to eat again. Dean looked away from him, not wanting to interrupt the narrative but feeling a little awkward under the silence. Castiel swallowed the bite, then leaned over to set the rest down on the coffee table. “She had every right to refuse my return. We were no longer legally bound, and after all I put her through she couldn’t handle it.”

Dean rubbed at his eyes. He wanted to tell him how much of a bitch his mom sounded, but something told him that was a bad idea. Instead, he pulled his hands away from his face and nodded, opting to keep quiet.

The sofa lifted up on Castiel’s side as he got to his feet. Dean didn’t move his gaze from the carpeted floor as Castiel rounded the couch and headed for the kitchen. He closed his eyes, listening to glass clink together and a faucet turning on.

Behind him, the front door swung open and an elongated, heavy sigh came from the person who opened it. 

“I’m home!” Gabriel declared from the hallway entrance. “Cassie, make me a cup of water, too.”

“Okay.”

Gabriel walked over to the couch and leaned forward so that his head was in Dean’s line of sight. “Well, well, well. What do we have here?”

Dean raised his eyebrows. “You’ve got issues,” he told him. 

“Don’t you know it!” Gabriel winked and straightened himself up. “Aw, Cas, you shouldn’t have.” He picked up a fortune cookie and fell onto the sofa chair.

“You’re dinner is the one that hasn’t been opened,” Castiel said, walking into the room with three glasses of water. Dean relieved him of one of them, and Castiel set the other two on the coffee table.

Gabriel reached for the container with a huge grin. “You’re too good to me.” He opened it up, only to frown at the contents. “Is… Is this a vegetarian's delight?”

Castiel nodded, sitting down next to Dean. “Sam told me earlier that you were trying to eat healthier.”

“Well Sam’s a freaking liar.” Gabriel had started to pout, but ate the food anyway.


End file.
